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Seeking the Kingdom of God

Seeking the Kingdom of God

by

Tim Jennings, M.D.
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When Jesus’ followers expressed concern about their daily needs, He told them to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

What encouraging words! It is a promise that has brought comfort to millions.

Yet, have you ever considered what the kingdom of God is and how we are to seek it?

Does seeking God’s kingdom mean we are to search for the right denomination to join?

Does it mean we are to seek the right list of religious ceremonies, rituals, and sacraments to perform?

Does it mean we are to seek to identify the right legal method, words, and requirements to get our sins paid, erased, or accounted for?

Jesus said,

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to (Matthew 23:13 NIV84).

These religious leaders were teaching out of the Torah, the Scripture, the God-given religious code, ceremonies, and instructions found in the Bible, yet Jesus told them that their teaching from the Bible was shutting people out from the kingdom of heaven. Thus, seeking the kingdom of God entails more than religious teaching—even from the Bible.

Jesus makes it clear that His kingdom is not found in careful rule-keeping. He said,

The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20, 21 NIV84).

God’s kingdom operates within the heart and mind! The kingdom of God does something within us—it changes us; it makes a fundamental reorientation of what our hearts long for, what our inmost selves desire, and what we hunger to experience. Thus, to seek God’s kingdom means we desire, pursue, and strive toward experiencing this heart change and then growing in character to be more like Jesus.

Our careful religious rule-keeping does not bring the kingdom of God—that doesn’t necessarily mean every religious activity is wrong or bad, but only that such actions do not bring God’s kingdom. Rather than bringing, initiating, or sourcing the kingdom of God, any action, ceremony, or ritual that is genuinely godly is simply the outworking of God’s kingdom that is operating within the heart. Just as the apostle Paul said,

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17 NIV84).

And the Holy Spirit operates within our hearts and minds to enlighten, convict, inspire, renew, transform, empower, and heal.

While God is Creator, while all physical reality is the Lord’s, while God is the God of our real physical universe, while there will be a new earth that is a real physical place where we have real physical bodies—while all of this physical stuff is real—none of it is what the Bible means when it speaks of the kingdom of God. His kingdom is within us; its core foundational roots, principles, and building blocks are not physical—they are spiritual. God’s kingdom is not primarily about power, might, or physical material; rather, God’s kingdom is about the life-giving operational principles that creation is built upon. God’s kingdom is functional; it is the outworking of the values, methods, protocols, attitudes, motivations, ideas, and truths that originate in God and direct the inner working of our beings, and, when reproduced in us by the Spirit, restore us to harmony with God.

The operational landscape of God’s kingdom, then, is the living landscape of our hearts and minds. It is where love functions, where truth operates, and where life flourishes. It is also where Satan attacks and has planted his foul seeds of sin. In other words, the battle between God’s kingdom and Satan’s happens within hearts and minds, and both sin and righteousness only exist in hearts and minds.

Sin does not happen in books or registries in heaven; and recovery from sin, our healing and salvation, also does not happen in books or registries in heaven. Both sin and salvation occur in the hearts and minds of people.

Sin is not made from molecules, physical matter, or material substances. Sin is founded in lies, which break the circle of love and trust, resulting in fear and selfishness, which results in rebellious and disorderly living; i.e., actions that deviate or break God’s design laws for life and health and without remedy result in ruin and death.

Righteousness is found in the truth that originates in God, the truth about God, and it is this truth that destroys Satan’s lies and restores us to trust. In trust we experience God’s love filling our hearts (Romans 5:5), which purges our fear (1 John 4:18), eradicating selfishness (1 John 4:7-12) and transforming our inmost being to become like Jesus (Galatians 2:20). The kingdom of God—the character, methods, principles of God—is within us!

If we want to seek the kingdom of God, then we must seek to know God (John 17:3), for to know Him is to love and trust Him. And once we have come to know God and have surrendered to Him, we experience His love and, in response, we live to love and honor Him (1 John 4:19). Then in that love/trust relationship, if we want to journey deeper into God’s kingdom, we seek daily to advance our minds into a deeper understanding of truth—eternal, operational, functional, reality-based biblical truth. We seek to grow up and become mature Christians who apply heaven’s truths to how we live our lives each day. By practicing God’s methods, we develop mature thinking and real experience in the working knowledge of God’s kingdom and are able to discern right from wrong (Hebrews 5:14).

If we want to journey deeper into the kingdom of God, then in addition to pursuing the truth, we seek to practice the principles of God in how we treat others. We apply God’s methods and principles to our actions. We love others and seek what is in their best interest. And we always leave others free, just as Jesus instructed:

As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:7, 8 NIV84).

The kingdom of heaven is advanced through truth and love, through giving, and through the application of God’s principles in how we govern ourselves in dealing with others. Thus, the righteous live lives of loving service in their communities. And in so doing, God’s kingdom advances in both the community and in the heart of His followers.  

We become more like Jesus, meek and other-centered. And “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4 NIV84).

Those who seek the kingdom of God experience a change in the inner person; their fear and selfishness are replaced with love and trust. They no longer seek to advance themselves, are not arrogant, are not prideful, but they humble themselves and place their pride in Jesus (Galatians 6:14). This is what it means to be reborn, and without this experience, we cannot understand, comprehend, experience, or see the kingdom of God. Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:3 NIV84).

This “seeing” is not visual; instead, it is seeing with the heart, comprehending with the mind, and appreciating with the deepest longing of the soul. Jesus and John both tell us that those who crucified Jesus will “see” Jesus come in glory seated next to the Father (Luke 22:69; Revelation 1:7). They will visually “see” Jesus on His heavenly throne in command of His heavenly kingdom, but they will misinterpret what they see. Having rejected Jesus and the truth of God’s kingdom of love, having accepted the lie that God’s law works like human law and that justice is using power to inflict punishment for disobedience, they don’t see our loving Savior, whose heart grieves over all His lost children; they “see” an angry, wrathful, punishing being of infinite power coming to destroy them and, rather than rejoicing in His presence, they are terrified and beg for the mountains to fall on them (Revelation 6:15, 16).

Only those who are reborn in heart, mind, and spirit can truly “see” the kingdom of God, for only those reborn by the Spirit have God’s kingdom restored within them.

So as events in this world continue to decay, don’t get distracted by the fears and worries, but remember Jesus’ promise and “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

 

 

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Tim Jennings, M.D.

Timothy R. Jennings, M.D., is a board-certified psychiatrist, master psychopharmacologist, Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Fellow of the Southern Psychiatric Association, and an international speaker. He served as president of the Southern and Tennessee Psychiatric Associations and is president and founder of Come and Reason Ministries. Dr. Jennings has authored many books, including The God-Shaped Brain, The God-Shaped Heart, and The Aging Brain.

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Testimony 26

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 47

I can’t even begin to thank you and your ministry enough for introducing me to the Truth about a loving and merciful God! I have my daughter and her in-laws to thank for sharing with me “The God-Shaped Brain” as well as your website. I listen to the Bible study class lessons on my daily walk. May God continue to bless your thirst-quenching ministry!

Liz H., Port Angeles, WA, USA

 

 

Testimony 50

After coming into contact with Come And Reason Ministries, I can finally say that many of my unanswered questions have fallen into place. I discovered that my view of God’s Law was “imposed laws and rules” with “imposed punishments” and that this was the major culprit of my many unanswered questions. Thanks be to God for using you and those around you to help us who have struggled with this “infection” of thought. I have now rejected the “imposed law” concept to fully embrace “Design Law”… to look thru “Design Law,” instead of “imposed law,” is a relief.

Viliami L., Australia

 

Testimony 63

I’ve been very blessed by “The God Shaped Brain” and this ministry, through video and podcast, over the last few years. It’s truly opened up my eyes more to the truth about God and the importance of that truth in the present world. The message is so inviting, freeing and enlightening and MORE people need to know about it. I believe it is the last message that can truly, not only prepare a people for salvation and translation, but vindicate the character of God.

Michael V., Yonkers, NY, USA

 

Testimony 54

I had a lot of pressure, as a pastor’s kid, to conform and be “good.” I was good at being “good.” I thought my life was going along well until it all started falling apart and I could not figure out why! In my search for “why is this happening to me, God?” I came across your book, “Could it be this Simple,” and God started revealing to me the many distortions I held about His character, His principles, and how He has designed His universe to operate. I remember thinking, “Wow, I have had this all backwards.” I was happy and angry all at the same time. Happy to have the light of truth break through the darkness, revealing a wonderful, beautiful way of understanding God and His plan for His children, and angry, because I felt deceived and cheated by the church, my family, and myself!

My heart thrills when I listen to your bible study lessons. Literally I have gone from death to life. It is a journey I look forward to every day, as God reveals areas this distortion affects. Praise GOD! I will ever be grateful to God for this ministry and your cooperation with the Spirit!

Karen S., Portal, AZ, USA

 

Testimony 27

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 29

Thank you for all of your work to correct misconceptions about God’s character. So many people that my husband and I have talked to seem to be against the natural law construct and view it as “errant” and “dangerous.” Having learned more about it through your blogs and lessons, I don’t really understand why they view it that way, except that it means they have to relearn theology they have known for their entire lives. But I’m so excited to relearn this. For the past few years I have been questioning how I could trust a God who punishes arbitrarily and is full of wrath for those who don’t obey His commands. That view made me afraid to “mess up” or “not be good enough,” even within my relationship with God. I really appreciated the point you bring out about God not wanting us to serve Him because we are afraid, but because we love Him.

Melissa H., IN, USA

 

Testimony 16

Your seminars are still inspiring and changing our lives and we continue to share the principles we have learned from you. Your ministry has changed our lives!

E.W.

 

Testimony 13

I borrowed “Healing The Mind” DVDs from a friend and showed them at my home for a small gathering of women friends. Neither of my friends are Adventist, but they both enjoyed and embraced the messages you taught. In fact, one of the ladies prayed out loud in our group and that was the first time she had ever had public prayer.

J.B. ,Dalles, OR, USA

 

Testimony 36

Thank you and may God continue to bless you as you share with others the intricacies of how we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made”. I must share that you have opened a whole new world to me, and I have found tremendous healing through what you have shared in two of your books, “Could It Be This Simple?” and “The God Shaped Brain.” I praise God for what you shared, what I have learned, and how I have grown and healed! My prayer is that My Precious Jesus will be seen by others in the way I live, act, talk, etc. and they may be encouraged to know He is truly a GREAT God of LOVE, desiring that no one should perish! God Bless you in your continued endeavors to present Him as He really is!

Joleen H. GA, USA

 

Testimony 22

I have found your Bible study class lectures to be very inspiring and useful as I prepare to teach class every other week. I subscribe to the podcast and download your notes on the weeks I teach. The audio and notes are such a great help in preparing. My own understanding of God’s character has grown as I teach the class. Commendations on the thought-provoking and well-prepared material Come and Reason provides. Personally, I get excited by the tie you make between the spiritual and mental/physical domains.

A.A. Corrales, NM, USA

 

Testimony 40

I was brought up in a different faith and have been petrified my whole life of God. I believed that I would burn in hell for eternity. When I was 12 I started pursuing the things of this world, but for the next 45 years the Spirit was always calling me, as I knew there was a God through nature. I could see the vast sea of stars in the universe and knew there was something bigger out there. Five years ago, through a Revelation seminar, I was blessed to learn about God’s character and government.

Then I found Come and Reason Ministries and have come under some extreme pressure when I speak about the ministry. One time a member sent me an internet article titled “Whats wrong with Tim Jennings?” I asked her what she thought of it and she said “I don’t know, I didn’t read it.”

I have always wanted to find out for myself the truth about God, so I stayed with the Design Law construct and have been liberated to understand the big picture. Once we consider Design Law, all other Bible stories and prophecies seem to fit perfectly. It is truly beautiful to see people grasping how God operates this Universe of Love and the liberation it has provided in their lives. It blows my mind to see how consistent Design law is with what our founders believed. I hear statements like “This makes so much sense.”

Tom W., Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA

 

Testimony 71

When I was 9 years old, I remember setting at our devotional table with a hunger and thirst for God that wanted more, deeper, BETTER. I can remember literally crying and pounding on the table, “I know these teachers didn’t mean to give us error. They taught what THEY had been TAUGHT, but didn’t ANYBODY READ THE BOOK?!?!?” It mattered to me then. It mattered to me as a teenager. It matters now as I teach bible classes. It didn’t have to be so hard as I watched so many give up and lay God’s great plan and gift of salvation aside as being “impossible.” Then, a friend sent me a link to Come And Reason’s website. I grew excited. YES! FINALLY! Then another friend told me to stay away, saying her son had just broken up with a girl because she was involved with Come And Reason and that “Tim Jennings preaches a false gospel.” But, AFTER many years of developing an authentic and, dare I say FUN relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit I see this message has been around a LONG time, since the apostle Paul, Ellen White, Graham Maxwell, Ray Foucher, and yourself (though I admit, you’ve made me back up, rewind and replay the clips, and get out my well-worn Bible on a few things.) I’m so thankful I have found LIGHT during these DARK days. I am not alone.

Vicki DiNitto

Testimony 5

We listen to your bible studies lessons in our class in Montana. You actually were the main reason I decided to get a laptop, so I can go to your site and listen, read, learn, and print the class notes. I am so grateful to learn the correct view of God and his character. Now, to just have others have an interest in knowing, so I can share it with them. Good thoughts your way.

R. N., MT, USA

 

Testimony 70

I have been watching you for many years and have learned to love God with all my heart. I was raised by a loving Christian mother that had been lied to about who God really was, so our religious upbringing was hell fire and damnation. As soon as I was old enough and moved out, I not only left the church, I ran as fast as I could to get away from it. Sad to say, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I learned and understand who my Father really is and how much He loves me. I understand God’s Design Laws (which make sense) and when I’m teaching my church Bible study class, I’m able to really put to use the things I’ve been learning and Holy Spirit is leading. Thank you for introducing me to my Father of true, pure love. Everyday with Him is new and exciting. One thing that breaks my heart is that I didn’t know Him sooner. God Bless you and your ministry!

Judy Phelps, Reno, NV, USA